


Fame and Glory

by ArtsReckoning



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Donnie and Raph are protective older brothers, Leo is in for a bad time, Leo loves his family, Leo need a hug, M/M, Mikey is a protective younger brother, My First Work in This Fandom, Other, There may be some touchy feely stuff towards the middle/end, Warnings will be placed for specific chapters, a bit of angst, i really don't know what to put here, inspired by a song
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27725563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtsReckoning/pseuds/ArtsReckoning
Summary: A mysterious producer has offered Leo a chance of a lifetime to become a star in the Hidden City. With the promise of unchallenged fame and money for his family, he decides to take it.His brothers are just worried that it might be a much more sinister offer than it first seems to be.
Relationships: Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael (TMNT), Leonardo (TMNT)/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	1. The Devil's Come a-Knocking

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to the song Producer Man and couldn’t help but think about this prompt. I dunno if anyone’s done it yet. Sorry if so! I just really wanted to try my hand at writing again and this is the first idea that came to mind that I was really interested in. Hope you enjoy the story!

“I don’t know about this Leo…,”

Donatello was sitting in his lab, watching his newly finished prototype for a hoverboard while it was in the hands of Leonardo, his slightly shorter twin brother, who seemed very intrigued in trying to get it working. 

The purple-clad turtle had been working on the prototype for almost a year now, trying to make a hoverboard strong enough to support more than how much Raphael weighed. Once the prototype was done, he’d make exact duplicates for his other brothers, mostly measured exactly to their foot stances, so that they could comfortably ride them without any problems. However, it was meant to be a secret. And Leo happened to choose the exact day he was working on it to come bother him in his lab.

“Oh come on bro, I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, right? Besides, I’ll only test it in _here_. So Mikey and Ralph won’t even know you have it.” Leo offered a compromise, and Donnie wasn’t sure what to do. He knew Leo was trustworthy, despite his annoying qualities, but he had a tendency to be nearly as reckless as Mikey. Donnie was more worried about the prototype breaking than the others knowing. He supposed he was also worried about Leo hurting himself, but that was more of an afterthought. 

“I mean… you have to be careful with it Nardo. I need it to be in one piece. But I suppose I need to test it’s capabilities to adjust the different weights and speeds…” Donnie replied worriedly. After a few seconds of mulling it over, he sighed in defeat. Well, there was only one way to find out. Donnie shrugged, grabbing a small tablet and began quickly tapping away on it.

Leo grinned victoriously. He knew Donnie couldn’t resist the temptation of testing out his beauties. He was definitely going to keep his word and do all the testing here, but he definitely wanted to ride this puppy around. 

With Donnie’s worries about him breaking it, however, he’d have to be more careful than he’d like to be. 

Donnie got up from his seat in his lab chair and walked over, tapping away on the tablet without having to look up. Once he got close enough to Leo and the hoverboard prototype, he looked towards the other turtle and waved his hand, giving Leo the go ahead.

At the signal, Leo put the hoverboard down on the floor. Donnie tapped a couple things on his tablet and soon, the hoverboard started to glow. The electromagnetic boosters at the bottom activated and caused the hoverboard to slightly hover over the ground.

A quiet _‘ooooooo,’_ came out of Leo’s slightly parted mouth. 

Soon, after a few seconds, Leo carefully placed a foot on top of the hoverboard. It tilted ever so slightly under his weight, but besides that, it looked good to board.

Leo, feeling rather confident in his brother’s device, soon threw his other foot on without a second thought. 

With his whole weight now on the prototype, it rocked and wobbled back and forth, causing Leo to swing his arms in circular motions to balance himself. Donatello was ready to drop almost everything and rush over to his brother's side, sweat dripping down his forehead at the display, but soon, Leo and the prototype eventually came to a halt. 

They both released a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. 

Leonardo gave a thumbs up, accompanied by a large grin. Donatello sighed, relaxing his tense shoulders and tapped away on the tablet. First phase, looking good. Now to see if it could move.

Without being prompted to, Leo started shifting his weight curiously. Just as he had assumed, depending on which end he shifted his weight to, it would move back and forth. HAH! This was going to be easy. 

Donatello looked up from the tablet to see Leo preparing himself to move forward, and he quickly rose his hands up to stop him. 

“No, no, no, no, **no!** Nardo don’t you _dare_!” He said, hoping his brother would find reason in what he was about to do, but Leo was already in his own world. 

Leo pressed his weight down roughly and shot forward, the small space of Donnie's lab turning into a miniature skatepark. However, Leo was making sure to not knock over anything, despite Donnie’s worries. His purple brother was practically chewing on his lip at what he was seeing. 

Leo shifted and moved through various tables and objects, moving faster and faster the more he rode around on the hoverboard. He was meticulously ducking and weaving under and around many different things, and Donnie couldn’t help but be impressed. Once Leo was completely satisfied, he tried to stop in front of Donnie, but he hadn’t realized stopping would be very different on a hoverboard than on a skateboard. He tried stopping by slamming his weight back on the other side of the hoverboard, which did stop it, but with the abrupt stop, his body lurched forward, causing him to fall and tumble into a pile of old boxes that had scraps and old pieces of previous failures in them. The pieces went sprawling against the floor, and Leo felt his head spin as he hit it hard on a particularly large piece of an old machine. He ended up upside down, legs hanging loosely above him and his arms outstretched underneath him. 

The blue-clad turtle groaned, rubbing his aching head as he slowly adjusted himself to a more comfortable position on his backside. That was a bit more painful than he expected it to be.

Donnie walked over, kneeling down and eyeing Leo to make sure the other was free of any wounds. Once he realized he was mark free, Donnie returned his attention to the tablet, knowing he didn’t have to worry too much about Leo, now that he knew he was okay. 

“Well, I must commend you on not actually breaking anything, but please try and not crash into my stuff next time.” Donnie said as Leo finally got up to his feet. 

“Oh, please. Breaking on that thing is hard! Besides, I looked pretty cool, right?” Leo sent a smirk his twin’s way, imitating his earlier movements he did while riding the prototype. 

Donnie looked up at him, watching him for a couple seconds before rolling his eyes and returning his attention back to his tablet. He tried to hide the small amused smile he had on his face. 

“Suureee. Cool. Thank you Nardo for testing out my prototype and nearly giving me a heart attack from your near collision with my more important pieces of equipment.” His voice remained monotone, dripping with sarcasm as he finally put in the last few notes he needed to take down before returning his attention to his brother. “Now can you leave?” With that, he reached over, putting a hand on Leo’s shell and pushing him towards the door of his lab. 

Leo, being the drama queen he was, mocked being hurt, throwing a hand to his chest and giving his best pout. 

“What?! Do you not wish for my company, oh dear brother??”

“Not really.”

“Can I _at least_ see what else you’re up to?”

“Not now, maybe later…”

“But I want to have some quality twin time~.”

“We can spend _‘quality twin time,’_ later, Leo.”

Donnie successfully was able to push Leo out of his lab, the doors automatically sliding open at the approach of Leo coming near it. 

“Wait, can I at least say something?” Leo pleaded, hoping this last thing would convince Donnie to let him back in. 

Said turtle sighed, looking deadpanned at his brother, but crossed his arms and let him speak, anyway. 

“Fine, what?” Donnie really wanted to get back to working on his prototype and other things, but he’d give Leo these last few seconds to speak while he still had the patience.

“I love y—,“ Before the last of his words could leave his lips, Donnie pressed the manual button for the door and closed it on his face. 

Leo stared at the door for some time before he let out a fake sad sigh, hoping that last bit of sudden affection will get his brother to let him back in out of pity. It worked when Mikey did it. How come it didn’t work for him? 

With a deflated stance, he grumbled and walked away from the door, over to where he knew his other two brothers were. However, before he got too far, he felt his phone vibrate in the pouch he wore at his hip. Fishing it out from the small compartment, he brought it to his face to see what he had just gotten. 

Donnie had sent him a text saying _‘Love you 2.’_

A small laugh escaped Leo’s mouth at the sight. Donnie always did that when he felt like being affectionate without the physical factor. It was a nice reminder that he didn’t completely hate him. 

Leo sent back two blue heart emojis and closed his phone, returning it to its rightful place. Now to see what his other brothers were up to.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walking towards his next objective, Leo couldn't help but look around at their home.

It had been a long month and a half. Their battle with Shredder had left them all worn and tired, and their home a mess. Returning here had made them all uncomfortable to varying degrees, but they didn't have the heart to give up on this place just yet. Holes upon holes had been riddled into the walls of their lair, and with it, the unavoidable task to fill them all in. In the meantime, while they were fixing everything up, April had offered up her apartment to them, to allow them a space to relax while they rebuilt. They were thankful to April for offering up her apartment to them. She even did a good job masking their presence while her parents visited, which happened pretty often. 

There was a lot of crying and words shared during those moments, and Leo felt a twinge of sadness pluck at his heart. He tried his best to stay strong, especially with being elected the new leader. If he was going to be forced into this leader role, he might as well pretend he was one. He didn't want a repeat of the argument that had transpired on that rooftop after their father made such a hefty decision on the dime. That was the first time Leo had actually yelled at their Father in a very, _very_ long time.

Well, they were still in the process of fixing things up. However, they still had a bit of ways to go before everything was back to normal. The WIFI had been fixed, and Donnie had to reconstruct most of his things that had been broken, hence why he had been held up in his lab so often. Most of their rooms had been left unscathed, but their main area of lounging had been completely destroyed. The more important rooms, however, had been more or less fixed: the kitchen, their living room, the bathrooms, and their individual bedrooms. Cracks were still visible in the walls, but they were making good progress on filling them all in. Donnie was especially hellbent on fortifying everything, so a repeat could never happen. Leo wasn't sure how many times an event like that would occur, at least what they had gone through, but with Shredder defeated, he could only hope that things were more or less back to normal for awhile.

That was wishful thinking on his part, anyway.

Making his way over to their little arcade space they had remade, he peeked inside to see their youngest brother, Michelangelo, playing an incredibly hard song on DDR, with Raphael watching on the sidelines. Leo slipped in, taking a seat next to Raph who noticed his presence and gave him a smile and a nod. Leo returned it and grinned back. They wanted to keep quiet so Mikey could finish.

The last few seconds of the song was coming up, and Mikey was in the home stretch. The three of them stared intently at the screen as each arrow was timed perfectly to the rhythm. The air was tense, and Mikey was not letting up.

It wasn't gonna be too long before Mikey would be defeating Donnie's unbelievably high score.

“Boys! Come down, now! I have a request to make!” 

Their father’s loud and booming voice was the last thing they were expecting to hear, though. 

Leo groaned at the thought of being called down for more training sessions; Raph sighed and got up, ready to head down. Mikey, on the other hand, got startled, causing him to slip up and miss the last few moves that were needed to beat Donnie’s high score on the machine. 

“Noooooo!” Mikey’s disappointed wail echoed through the walls of the arcade, and he flopped down to his knees in defeat. His score came up to about 1,000 or so points away from Donnie’s and Leo sympathetically walked over and patted his youngest brother on the shoulder. 

“Better luck next time, buddy.” He said somewhat comfortingly, but they all knew that _‘next time’_ would never happen. Not any time soon anyway. Donnie’s scores were nearly impossible to beat. Only pure luck could help them.

Mikey dejectedly got up, pouting heavily and walked with them out of the room and towards where their Father called them from. He was so close! If he just had a few more seconds, he’d have beaten the score, or at least tied! Michelangelo was never going to forgive his Father for such a betrayal.

Meeting up with Donnie halfway towards where they were called to, all four brothers made their way to the main area of their lair, which expanded out into a semi beaten up skatepark. Cracks and particularly large holes littered the ground. In the middle stood their small rat father, Splinter. 

They all stood in a single file line, and looked down at their stern looking father, arms resting behind him as if he had something serious to say. _‘Maybe he had a secret mission for us to do? Or even a cool trip into some dangerous environment?!’_

“Boys, I need you to go get some things from the Hidden City. I dare not ask you to go in my stead, but I must have these items quickly and efficiently. They are for… something important. For a very… serious Hamato ritual!” His voice stuttered and he had hoped his sons did not notice his slip up.

They all looked at him incredulously. 

Raph walked forward and took the small slip of paper from his father. However, he squinted at it, unsure if he was reading it correctly. The other three walked over, eyeing the paper just as suspiciously, but Leo was the first to come out and say it.

“Dad… this looks like a grocery list.” Leo turned his eyes on their father, eyes narrowed in suspicion. 

Without a moment’s pause, Leo was hit on the head with a Karate chop, the one they usually would receive when their father had started to lose his patience. 

“I did not ask you to question me! I asked you to go get those ingredients! **Now go!** ” Without wanting to test their Father’s patience any further, they all quickly raced out of there and towards the streets of New York City. Well, the sooner they did it, the sooner they could make it back home. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t too long of a walk before they found one of the many entrances to the Hidden City. Leo had such an infatuation with the place that he had searched out all of the many entrances nearby, much to Donnie and Raph’s disapproval. However, it came in handy in moments like these.

They came up to an alleyway where a giant mural of a shopping center was drawn onto one of the walls. Leo took the initiative and walked up to it first, using one of his swords to draw an abstract ‘S’ on the wall. Once it was fully drawn, a passageway opened up, revealing a bustling marketplace laced with mutants on the other side. He grinned at his brothers, gesturing them to follow him through.

“I knew one day these would be useful for something.” Leo said with a sing-song like tone in his voice as he walked in first. Mikey, Donnie, and then Raph soon followed after, and once all four of them passed through, the portal closed swiftly behind them, leaving no traces behind.

They ended up in the thicket of the marketplace, but a good place to start if they were meant to look for ingredients. Raph took a second glance over at the list, and grumbled to himself.

“Where are we supposed to find all this? I don’t even know what half this stuff is…,” he said, and Donnie took a glance at it himself. It was a pretty abstract list. But, if they were exactly as they were written, then they should be able to find it rather easily. 

“Well, let’s all take a picture, and see if we could somehow find some of this stuff. Let’s stick together though, it seems rather crowded today.” Leo suggested, and the other three nodded in unison. Donnie, Mikey, and Leo took their phones out and took a picture, allowing for them to all have a copy of their own to glance over in case they needed it. 

They then went on a long hunt to look for the ingredients their Father wanted: 

* Sausages made out of the finest meats,  

* Fermented Batfruit,  

* Two things they didn’t know how to pronounce,  

* Augmented Salt,  

* Three Starfruit,  

* two sacks of black beans that looked like pebbles,  

* and four packs of Hidden City’s finest dough. 

It was honestly hard to tell what some of this stuff was, or what they were for, but asking around was definitely going to keep them moving in the right direction, right?

Eventually, they ended up finding themselves in an even more crowded area, and they started to drift further away from each other. Leo was having a particularly hard time finding his way around. The thick movement of mutants were keeping him from seeing his brothers, or anything in general. Along with having to keep himself safe in the crowded area, he also had to be wary of where his swords were on his back. He was not about to lose his weapons in the Hidden City again. The closest to him _was_ Mikey, but if he strained himself, he could hear Mikey talking to Donnie nearby. He tried to push his way towards their voices, but they soon faded and got jumbled up in the mix of other voices he didn’t recognize, almost as if they had just moved further away from where they were before. 

Damn it. 

Where was Raph? His large figure should be easy to spot. Leo kept moving, keeping his eyes peeled for his brothers, mainly Raph, but soon, bumped into someone without knowing, too occupied looking everywhere else. He fell back, realizing that he had entered a rather small clearing of mutants. Looking closer, it seemed said mutants were trying to avoid whoever was at the center of said clearing. 

The same person he had bumped into. 

A moment of silence between the mutants nearby occurred as Leo looked up and was met with piercingly vibrant red eyes, which stared back at him with an emotion Leo wasn’t sure he knew how to read. The black and red clad male was seemingly much taller than him, probably around Raph’s height, but nowhere near as strong looking. His hair was black and long, skin a crimson red, and he had a long black coat on with blazing red fur at the trims, almost as if it was made of fire. Was that a tail? And **wings??**

Leo could only describe the man before him as a demon, and from what he could tell, he didn’t make a very good first impression.


	2. Devil in the Detail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the most famous yokai to exist in the Hidden City has entered the scene! 
> 
> An offer is proposed, and questions are undeniably at the forefront of the conversation. However, Leo's interest is peeked.
> 
> Leo is more than excited to tell his Father of their exploits. However, will Splinter allow for Leo to go through with it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for everyone who has given kudos and left such kind comments! It’s given me quite the motivation.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this Chapter! 3rd one hopefully coming soon some time before Christmas!

Leo had been lost in the eyes that were currently peering down at him. 

The mutant before him had seemingly taken Leo’s every ability to think straight. He simply sat there on the floor while looking up into the bright red eyes of the person before him. It was almost as if the stranger was whispering something to him, but without having to move his lips. Leo couldn’t even glance away, as much as he wanted to.

However, the blue clad turtle seemed to pull himself out of his strange trance and finally stood up, dusting himself off and rubbing his backside. He fell harder than he expected.

“Sorry about that, uh, sir. I wasn’t paying attention. Lookin’ for my brothers and all…” He trailed off nervously, suddenly feeling rather unsure in front of the rather fancy looking yokai before him.

Said yokai simply stared at him for a lot longer than he was comfortable with, eyeing him up. He didn’t look amused at first, but a smile crept on the red-skinned male’s face anyway. His wings jostled slightly, as if he had been laughing.

“It’s quite alright. I’m sure I’d have been the same way if I were looking for someone important.” He mused, and took a step forward towards Leonardo, who instinctively took a step back. The guy was much taller now that Leo could take in his whole height, and not from his position on the floor. Leo had to crane his neck rather far back to really get a look at the guy’s face. Maybe he was a little taller than Raphael.

“Heh, yeah… but I’m sure with wings like those, it’d be much easier. You’d practically have eyes in the sky.” Leo tried to jest, mostly to make himself feel better, but he knew that joke came out flatter than he was expecting. What he wasn’t expecting was the chuckle that came from the male in return. Did he just…?

“I suppose I would. Almost like a bird of prey.” The demon yokai joked back with a laugh. Leo couldn’t help it and found himself chuckling along. This was… new.

Now, Leo had to admit. The guy was ticking off all of his ‘something is not right about this guy’ check boxes. That usually happened with anyone he and his brothers would come across. Leo would even go as far as to say that he knew how to gauge out people’s personalities well. This guy, however, he couldn’t read. He looked intimidating, sure, which was what ticked Leo off in the first place, but surprisingly, there was no hidden malevolence behind his voice. At least none that Leo could sense. The guy even laughed at his poorly made joke! Not even his brothers would do that, even if it was to simply play along. Leo could only surmise that the guy was either appeasing him for some alternate gain, or he genuinely thought he was funny. Leo was inching towards the former. Donnie was the funnier one, apparently.

They both settled their chuckling and the demon yokai took a step back and bowed politely at Leo, who was once again taken aback. He’d never been bowed to before.

“The name is Demitrious. It’s nice to meet you…?” The demon now known as Demitrious looked up from his bowed position, raising a designed eyebrow. Oh, his name! Right… 

“Oh, it’s Leonardo.” He said, and realized it’s been awhile since he said his whole name aloud to a stranger. He thought it was appropriate. 

Demitirous smiled and stood up straight, offering a hand for the turtle mutant to shake. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leonardo.” He said with a kind smile, and Leo looked at the hand offered dubiously. He was still unsure about the guy, but he seemed nice enough. Leo reached over and shook his hand, smiling back. This was… surprisingly nice.

“Yeah, nice to meet you too.” He said, feeling a little more at ease. Leo was still rather nervous, but less so than before. Maybe he was reading too much into their previous encounters a bit.

Demitrious suddenly seemed a bit bashful, raising a hand to bring to the back of his head to scratch at it a little with pointed nails. 

“Might I just add that you are… quite attractive. More attractive than most I’ve seen around here.” He said, offering a shy smile. At that, Leo froze up, not sure what to say. He had always talked about how much more attractive he was than his brothers, but mostly as a joke and a false boast about his confidence. Being outright called attractive was bridging on rare to never. Hearing that from someone who, in Leo’s opinion, was much more attractive than himself, this came as a shock.

It didn’t stop him from blushing any less.

Leo gave a nervous chuckle, his emerald green cheeks turning into a light shade of pink. He had never felt this type of embarrassment before.

“Oh, heh thanks. What can I say, I have quite the face.” He spoke in the usual slightly cocky way he’d usually boast with, making a flourishing motion with his now freed hand to brush it against his head, as if pushing fake strands of hair back out of his face.

Demitirious seemed amused by this, chuckling at the display. Leo never realized this about himself, but was he a natural flirt? He never knew he, himself, had the knack for it. Wow, he was experiencing a lot of different things today.

“Indeed. A face fit for the big screen.” Demitirious replied with an almost seductive sing-song voice, and a slender forked tongue creeped out as he leaned down to Leo, who felt his face heat up further. 

Their eyes met, and they were staring at each other for what felt like eternity. Leo stared deep into the red fiery eyes that leered over him, and he felt the same sensation as when he had first bumped into the guy, which was not too long ago. That feeling of hearing his voice without actually seeing him move his lips. As if he was in his head. Whispering to him alone. It made a shiver crawl up Leo’s spine, but he did his best to hide it. He felt like a deer ready to be pounced upon by a hunting predator, and showing any weakness would be his end.

They were pulled out of their staring contest when Leo heard the sound of Mikey calling for him through the crowd, accompanied by the voices of his two other brothers calling out as well. Oh yeah, he had almost forgotten he had been looking for them ever since he got lost. Leo pulled away from Demitirous to turn towards where their voices came from. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, “I’m here!” into the crowd, in hopes they’d hear him. Their calls seemed to die down as they caught wind of his voice and moved closer to where he was. Leo put his hands at rest and sighed. He was glad he’d be reunited with them, at least. Now they could meet the cool guy he just met! It would also help him hide his embarrassment of what just transpired, too. His face still felt warm.

Leo watched as the crowd gradually parted to reveal his brothers. Raph sighed in relief, glad that they had finally found Leo, Donnie was on his phone, but glanced up once they had reached where they needed to be, and Mikey ran over to Leo and hugged him, also giving a sigh of relief. They must have been parted for quite some time.

“Oh mi gosh, Leo, we finally found you! We got most of what Dad was asking for before we realized you were gone. Donnie tried to leave and go back home without you, but me and Raph forced him to come along.” Mikey explained what they had been up to while he was missing and threw a soft glare back at Donnie, who seemingly tried to hide the small twitch the corner of his mouth made. 

“Not true! I did want to find you. Eventually…” Donnie trailed off, absorbed in tapping away at some notes and programs he had on his phone, and hiding the slight smirk on his face. 

Raph walked over to Leo, smiling all the while. Leo returned the notion. 

“We’re glad we found you. We should head back soon, before Pops throws a fit.” Raph suggested, but Leo quickly shuffled out of Mikey’s hold and put up a hand, as if to tell them to wait. 

“Hold on, you gotta meet somebody!” He said rather excitedly, and stepped back over to Demitirous, throwing a hand over to motion towards his new acquaintance. 

“Guys, this is Demitrious! Demi, can I call you that?” Leo asked, looking over at the red-skinned yokai. The demon smiled and nodded. He didn’t mind.

“Demi, these are my brothers; Raph, Mikey, and Donnie, who’s currently on his phone and not paying attention.” Leo introduced with a knowing smirk. Donnie, as if to try and show he was paying some kind of attention to what was going on, grunted softly to acknowledge Leo’s statement. That was as close to a confirmation as they were going to get for now.

Raph was the first to approach, smiling at the newcomer. He wasn’t too sure how to feel about the person Leo just met, but if Leo was comfortable with the guy, he’d be comfortable with him too. He seemed nice enough.

“It’s a pleasure to meet ya, Demitrious. Thanks for keepin’ an eye on my reckless brotha.” He said, glad at least someone was with Leo and this wasn’t just Leo sneaking off to cause havoc somewhere in the Hidden City. He ignored the ‘hey!’ that came from Leo.

Leo didn’t like being seen as some kind of destructive child. Even though he most likely would have gotten distracted with something else and ran off to go chase after whatever it was. Probably.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too; and it’s definitely no problem for me. He’s quite the little entertainer.” Demitirous said, glancing over at Leo who gave a shy grin back. Raph looked between the two, but seemed oblivious to what that shared look meant. 

“Heh, yeah… Anyway, ready to head back, guys?” Raph asked, looking at his three younger brothers. Mikey nodded with a bright smile. They got everything they needed, so they might as well head back. He wanted to get back to that DDR session they were having. Donnie just hummed lightly, another small sign he was paying attention. Before Leo could respond, Demitirious spoke up first, suddenly quite eager.

“Speaking of entertaining, Leonardo, do you see yourself as a star?” He asked, calling back to what he had mentioned previously, before Leo could be on his way with his brothers. 

Mikey’s face lit up, gasping lightly as he understood what that meant quickly. 

“Oh mi gosh, are you some kinda producer??” He asked excitedly, moving to Leo’s side as he excitedly threw his hands up and down. His brother, a star?! That’d be so cool! 

“Yes, I am! The one and only producer of the Hidden City and all things yokai! I’m the reason Big Mama is who she is, after all.” Demitrious explained and a collective gasp came from Raph, Mikey, and Leo. 

Leo was the first to speak up after their initial shock, face full of both disbelief and amazement.

“Wait, you’re the reason Big Mama is so popular?!” He said, and Demitirous nodded proudly. 

“I got her into the showbiz first. It’s only with my guidance has she grown to be so influential, despite her… morbid taste in entertainment.” He added, and Leo thought it over. Wow, he didn’t think he’d be acquainted with an actual yokai celebrity. Maybe that was why the mutants nearby had been so keen on keeping their distance from the fancy demon.

“Well, I guess being a big shot couldn’t hurt…,” Leo trailed off, thinking. Mikey nodded, throwing an arm around Leo’s neck, which brought the slightly taller brother down. 

“OH YEAH, it wouldn’t hurt! Think of all the pizza we could buy with the money you’ll make from showbiz! We can finally get that brick pizza oven Raph failed to ask dad last time he got sick!” Mikey said with the excitement of a kid talking about the present they wanted for Christmas. Raph quickly walked in to retort against what he had just said.

“First off, I didn’t fail to ask anythin’, Leo messed me up! Secondly, Leo doesn’t have time to be going into any showbiz. He’s our leader, so he’s gotta stick with us.” Raph responded, his natural oldest brother instincts kicking in. However, Leo frowned in retaliation at that.

“Heeeeey! Don’t speak for me. Mikey is right. It sounds like a really good opportunity! If it’s legit, I could be making so much money, we can even fix up the lair. If Dad could do it, I’m pretty sure I can. Besides, I know you’d prefer to be the leader again anyway, and you know I don’t want to be. You technically could be in charge while I’m busy with this.” Leo seemed determined to try it out. They were too busy bickering to catch Donnie staring at Demitirous, who was staring down at Leo intently.

Donnie would always say that nothing spooked him. At least nothing else other than beach balls and spiders. However, watching that guy look down at his twin like that made an uncomfortable feeling creep up his spine. Like watching a lion waiting patiently to devour an unknowing gazelle. Donnie watched for awhile until Demitirous caught wind of the fact he was staring and looked over, previous expression softening into a kind smile. Donnie quickly looked back down to his phone, feeling nervous. They needed to leave.

“I think we should just go home and talk about this later, yeah?” Donnie spoke up, putting his phone down, away from his face, which drew his brothers’ attention. They looked at each other, thinking it over before Raph sighed. 

“Yeah, Donnie’s right, we should. Come on guys, we gotta get this stuff back to Pops.” Raph said, and looked at Demitirous. He offered a polite smile, despite the strange request he had offered Leo.

“See ya around.” Never, Raph wanted to add, but thought against it. He didn’t like the idea of Leo going into anything that had nothing to do with their family or the Mad Dogz, so he had become a little on edge, but he knew talking about it now would only keep them there longer. They’d have to talk about it more at home.

Leo sighed, crossing his arms sternly. 

“Fiiiiiiiine. Let’s go. See you around, Demi.” He spoke slightly downtrodden, and was about to walk off with his brothers when he felt something slightly cold trail up the back of his thigh. He looked back quickly just in time to see Demitrious’s tail slink back slowly towards himself, and Demi rose a finger to his lips to tell him to keep quiet. Demi pointed towards the little pouch Leonardo had at his hip, which he quickly looked down at and opened it up. Inside was his own phone and a business card with Demitrious’ number and logo on it. As Leo looked back up to ask about it, the demon yokai was nowhere to be seen. Leo looked around in surprise, wondering quietly where the red-skinned yokai had gone, before he felt Mikey tug on his arm to bring his attention back into focus. 

“Leo?” Mikey inquired curiously, but Leo shook his head and smiled at his younger brother. He slipped the business card back into his pouch. Like they said, they’d talk about it when they got home.

“Nothing, Mikey. Let’s catch up before they leave us behind.” He said with a smile, and they both slightly jogged to catch up to their brothers. They needed to finish up here and make it back soon.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The last item on the list was finally found after an extensive look around the seedier parts of the Hidden City. What all these items their dad would need them for, they couldn’t even guess, but they were just glad they could make it back home with everything in tow. Leo swung one of his blades and opened up a portal, which they quickly took to make it back into their lovely sewers. They were a bit far away from their home, so they took a small walk back down the sewers, Leo and Mikey talking about what it would be like to be on TV. Their conversation died down as they eventually entered their little abode to be met by Splinter, who was standing close by the entrance as if he was keeping watch out for them. He smiled nonetheless, just glad they all made it back safely.

“Finally, I was starting to get worried. Thank you, my sons.” He said, taking the bag of ingredients Raph had been carrying. Splinter looked at them all, a fury eyebrow raised in confusion. 

“What took so long though? Were they that hard to find?” He inquired and wondered to himself. It had been a long time since he had gone to the Hidden City, so it was fair that he probably had a different memory of the layout he remembered from last time. He just hoped that they didn’t get into any trouble down there.

Leo stood forward, excitement on his face as he stood proudly in front of their Dad. He was so eager to tell his Dad what had happened before they returned. 

“Dad, you aren’t going to believe it, but I just got the opportunity to become a Hidden City star!” The blue-clad turtle said with a puffed out plastron, but when he looked to Splinter, he was met with a frown and annoyance. His stance faltered as their Father crossed his arms, shaking his head.

“Don’t tell me you are thinking of joining it. I heavily suggest you don’t.” It was obvious he was angry about it, but why was beyond Leonardo’s ability to understand. 

However, that outright denial seemed to have riled Leo up a little, causing him to frown and furrow his brow. He didn’t even think about it.

“But _daaaad_ , do you know how much money I could bring back home? We could use the money to fix up the lair, or even upgrade this place! That’d be cool, wouldn’t it? You could even watch your TV from your room, like I’m sure you enjoy doing~,” He tried to play off the anger, grinning knowingly at his Dad as he pointed out the obvious things he knew the answer to. Everyone wanted to fix their home up, and having April offer to get everything for them was going to eventually tire her out. Especially her wallet. With their small amount of money, they wouldn’t be able to fix this place up as fast as they could be. He knew the opportunity would make up for that. 

However, it fell on deaf ears.

Annoyed that his son wouldn’t just take his word on it, Splinter quickly shook his head again, and this time, Leo puffed in annoyance, crossing his arms just like Splinter was doing now. They were alike in their own ways.

“How come? You didn’t even think it over!” Leo said in exasperation. His brothers at this point had stayed far out of the way, and their growing worry of the impending argument was evident on their faces. It wasn’t pretty the last time the two of them had argued. 

“I have already. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes that I have made! The answer is no.” Splinter’s voice rose a notch, anger evident in his expression and tone.

Leo wasn’t one to back down so easily, either. 

“B-but that’s not fair! I’m not you, I could make it work! I could be both a Mad Dog and do showbiz, it can’t be that hard.” Leo retorted.

“You’re right, you are nothing like me. I was able to balance two things at a time with practice, so there is no way you could do the same. You won’t be able to handle that sort of responsibility.” Splinter was hoping logic would make it to Leonardo, but even he knew the blue one was harder to placate when worked up.

Leo’s face scrunched up in annoyance. “That’s not even true! Your job had you be a ninjutsu master AND a movie star. You even opened countless Karate gyms for fans to join! I’m only doing half as much as that, and I can’t even handle that? Seriously!?” Leonardo’s voice was rising, his temper slowly being lost in the argument. Before it could escalate, Raph tried to step in, softly placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder to try and calm him down. He was worried about how far the argument was going to go.

“Come on Leo, that’s enough. Pops said it’s not worth it. Just drop it...” Raph said in a kinder tone so as to not anger Leo further. Splinter, however, still had one thing left to say.

“With your inability to keep charge over your brothers, you won’t even be able to make a good leader at this point. You are still too reckless and carefree. Focus on what’s important first before deciding to make such a dumb decision.” Splinter said with a tone of finality. But that seemed to set Leo off. 

Leo shoved Raph’s hand off his shoulder, pointing an accusatory finger at their Father, who seemed unmoved by such an action. 

“ _Me? **A bad leader?!**_ I didn’t even want to be a leader! You chose for me to be leader, and I had no choice over that either! At least what I’m doing is for all of us! You just left your whole clan to pursue something completely without thinking about them. If anything, you’re the one who makes dumb decisions!” At this point, Leo was yelling, and Raph had to instinctively put a hand on Leo’s torso. However, the damage had already been done. His words had struck something in Splinter that caused him to give pause, an angry shocked look on his face. Mikey quietly placed a hand over his mouth and Donnie looked shocked at what had transpired. Raph couldn’t even say anything, looking worriedly between the two of them.

Leo and Splinter seemed to have a moment where they just glared at each other, before Leo gave in and looked down, angry tears starting to pull at the corner of his eyes. Splinter also looked down at the same time, unable to meet his son's eyes any longer. Without another word, Leo stomped off to his room, ignoring the call of his name from Mikey and Raph.

_‘What’s wrong with me?’_

Leonardo hadn’t been that mad before. At least not towards their Father and not since that new change of leadership on that roof. Even then, he hadn’t said something so bad. He just wanted to be seen as something more than a troubled teen, but he had simply made it worse. He wanted his Dad to just give him a chance. If their Dad could do it, how come he couldn’t? It just seemed so unfair. 

By the time he had gotten to his room, he was on the verge of angrily crying. However, he simply breathed in and out as slowly as possible. When had he become so worked up by everything? He used to have such a level head. He had been a leader for only a month and a half at this point, but was it already so hard to be one? Splinter was right about one thing. Leonardo might end up being a horrible leader. The moment their initial argument ended on that rooftop after he became the new Leader, he felt the weight of it all on his shoulders almost instantly, especially after the countless missions they had been going on afterwards. Luckily he had gotten them out alive with a mission success. But what if one day he messed up?

What if one day he got them all…

He shuddered at the thought and couldn’t help the angry grunt that came from him. He wiped at his eyes, forcing his tears away and sighed again, trying to calm his racing heart. His hands rose and he shook them loosely, a distraction for him he had a habit of doing behind closed doors to ease himself. He was stressed beyond belief. He never thought such a thing could leave his mouth, but he had felt they were true at the time. How come he couldn’t just try it? He’d make sure to read the fine print and everything. Did his Father really not have that much faith in him? Did none of them? He grumbled softly, his anger returning. Well, whatever. There was nothing he could do about it now. He wasn’t a bad leader. He was trying his best, the same way Raph had been trying his best, too. Leo technically just started and he was doing just fine. They were in a situation that required them to get resources that they needed but didn’t have. If he could just do that, then he would feel a lot better about their predicament. 

About what had happened a month and a half before.

About his failure to protect her…

Leo felt his hand surge towards his pouch, rummaging around the small compartment until he took out what he needed. The small business card Demitrious had slipped into it. He stared down at the piece of paper, eyes lingering on the number that adorned the card. He felt suddenly conflicted on what he was about to do, but after remembering how much this would help his brothers, he decided it didn’t matter.

He was doing it for them...

Leo pulled out his phone and tapped the number into it before pressing call. He sat down on his bed and moved to the furthest corner away from the entrance. He pulled his knees up towards his face and curled in on himself. He couldn’t pull himself into his shell like Mikey can, but this was as close as he was going to get. He listened intently to the ringing from the phone before it abruptly stopped and a voice spoke up from the other side.

_He was doing this for them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this Chapter! I'm still fairly new to this, so let me know if there are any grammar mistakes anywhere! Also, feedback is always welcome. 
> 
> Thank you for your time! :)


	3. The Chance of a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two days before Christmas, April decides to spend it with her favorite turtles. After a resolution is made, their tradition of having Family Game and Movie Night starts up. However, Leo gets a call and makes a very unpleasant discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super late happy holidays and a late happy New Years everyone! Apologies for the extraordinary long wait, the holidays and following weeks were jam packed for me, along with some personal problems that arose, so I had less time to work on this than I thought I would have.
> 
> It’s a pretty long read, so hopefully it’ll be as enjoyable and make up for this long awaited update!
> 
> Hope you enjoy it all the same!

Getting through the last few days of classes had been a disaster, but with the way things have been going for her, she was surprised and very grateful that her grades were still above average. Enough where lagging behind on any holiday homework would not get her in trouble.

April O'Neil was free from classes for the rest of the month, and for two weeks, she was free to do whatever she pleased. Her first point of action was to spend some time at home lounging around and playing video games all day, especially since she had been recently fired. Again. However, another interview had rounded it’s ugly head for her, so she was ready to get that done and over with after the holidays. Every job she’s ever applied to was a success, at least with her being able to nail the interview. For some reason, she’d end up losing it weeks after. For things that were out of her control, no less! Either she found a good job or a good boss, but who knows if a person like that existed.

As she finished up a round of video games for the day, she took a glance over towards the clock that hung over her living room TV. It was about 6pm, and she knew exactly what that meant. With a large grin, she jumped up and excitedly went to her room to start packing. 

Today was the day she’d be heading over to the Lair to spend time with the others, and since Christmas was just in two days and her parents would be out of town on an important business trip for the next two weeks, of course with presents left for her to open when she got the chance, she was free to spend the rest of it with the guys.

Her favorite pastime in general was spending time with the turtles, alongside playing with Mayhem. Ever since they’re battle with Shredder, their bond had been stronger than ever. Having them bunk while her parents were home was tough as well, since there was a lot of rushing around and maneuvering that had to happen, but within the time they had been there, she felt more at home than she ever thought possible. 

Now that she had a chance to spend even more time with them, basically in the form of a super long sleepover, she was more excited than usual. This would be the first time she’s done it before, with anyone, ever. She already had everything she’d ever need, so she was set. 

She packed up all the board games she could and even grabbed her extra controller to play games with them. She made sure to buy the older model controllers just in case, since the others had an older Nintendo console that they found somewhere at a dump. Donatello was able to salvage it and upgrade it to play whatever game they could get their hands on, so it was as versatile as it could be. She had an idea for a gift she’d be hunting for them early the next morning. She was definitely excited to see their reactions to it, if she could get it and wrap it up without them knowing.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as Mayhem teleported into her room, landing gently on her bed. She had recently gotten more comfortable with Mayhem being out and about on his own, but she could never deny the relief she felt whenever he returned. He made a sound of happiness at seeing his human companion and walked over before jumping on her head. Her head was done up with one large puff towards the back of her head, so he found it quite comfortable to nestle up on her head while she packed away. She giggled lightly and continued to pack. She was sure to finish soon, at least before the others could start to worry. 

It was always sweet when they offered to accompany her from her house to the Lair, but she was sure that she could manage getting there on her own. Especially after it’s been so long. But she knew their main concern was because of the villains that were still prowling around. Since she had been pretty active in keeping up with them and fought alongside them many times, she was sure to be a target. But, she always reassured them that she could definitely handle herself.

Just as she stuffed the last of her need-to-bring items and struggled to get her duffle bag closed all the way, she heard her phone go off on her bed. She reached over to see what it was, Mayhem navigating to her shoulders to see as well, and realized she had gotten a text from Donatello, who was asking if she was on her way yet. She hummed in thought for a second, wondering if she should lie or tell the truth on where she was. She went for a modest response that might satisfy the scientist before he tried to offer her a pick up with his battle shell. She did not feel like flying through the sky of Brooklyn just to get to the Lair.

‘I’m on my way! Already done packing and everything. See you soon!’

“And send.” She spoke with a smirk and once the message went through, she placed the phone in her pants pocket. 

April turned her attention back to her duffel bag and glared at it, and as a last ditch effort to get it closed, she slammed her body onto it, hoping the pressure from her small body would be enough to get it closed far enough. Mayhem had teleported off of her by then, sitting patiently on her bed as he watched her struggle feebly to get the bag closed. Her body slam definitely did the trick though, since after body slamming it and returning to struggling with the zipper, she was able to nudge it enough where it gave way, landing her as the victor. She quickly zipped it up before it decided to backfire on her and gave it a lift to test its weight. It was a reasonable size, so she grabbed the keys to her house, bundled herself and Mayhem up considerably for the winterland outside, and finally went on her way. 

April had been born and raised in Brooklyn, but it still seemed to amaze her when the winter weather kicked in. 

Sidewalks lined with slippery ice and soft snow. People bundled up to the nines in sweaters and oversized jackets. Kids running so fast that they slide and fall from the momentum. Even Mayhem seemed to openly enjoy the winter weather, jumping down from her shoulders to dive into soft piles of snow, possibly due to not seeing it very often. There were always houses overly decorated with Christmas ornaments and lights, but it had its own sort of festive charm. She enjoyed walking these cold nights, especially with Mayhem, not that the cold bothered her all too much. Fall trees were now dead, covered in snow from the furthest branch down to the base of the trunk. The contrast always seemed to bring a soft smile to her face. 

Winter was a blissful season. At times.

She rounded the corner of several blocks before finally turning to her left to enter an alleyway. Mayhem saw the cue and jumped up comfortably onto her shoulders. She knew the path to the Lair by heart, so she didn’t hesitate to throw open the sewer cover and climb on down. 

Once at the bottom of the ladder, the sewer cover moved back into place, she took a quick glance around, her attention briefly moving over to Mayhem to make sure he was okay, before walking in the direction towards the Lair. 

The battle with Shredder was always fresh in her mind, and she couldn’t help but remember the sounds of chaos that had transpired right as she left to keep the mystical orb full of humans safe. On her way back, everyone was gone, and even Karai had been defeated. After helping the boys get their Hamato Ninpo and standing alongside them during that battle, April had a new found confidence in herself that she never had before. 

After what Karai had told her, about being a part of their family since the beginning, she felt a very warm feeling in her chest, and it wasn’t just from gaining the powers that Karai entrusted to her while harboring in her body. They already felt like a family to her, like a group of younger brothers, but having it said to her made it so much more real. Walking through the sewers now, she couldn’t help but remember that. 

They were her family, in a much more spiritual and definitive sort of way.

However, there was definitely a lot of pain that followed. From what they talked to her about over the month or so they had been renovating, while staying over at her place in the meantime, the Lair had been practically destroyed. Nothing remained of what they had, besides certain rooms that went untouched. It was a miracle that the place didn’t collapse in on itself, but she chalked it up to Splinter making sure the place was safe enough for them to live in, even for situations like this. She felt so bad for them that she tried to buy them whatever she could with the money she was making from work, along with the money she had saved away already, but it was tough to manage since they needed a lot of everything. She was glad she could help where she could, she just wished she had the ability to do more for them.

After a few long minutes of walking, she finally reached the large hole that would take her into the main area. She walked in and looked around, but was immediately met by a warm hug from Mikey, who had instantly spotted her enter while he was skateboarding on the makeshift ramp they had rebuilt from scratch. Mayhem, being more fond of Mikey, jumped onto the other turtle's shoulders, giving a resounding noise to show he was happy to see the orange one.

“April! Mayhem! You guys made it! We were about to go and see what was taking y'all so long.” He said excitedly, and released her after a brief moment. He turned his attention to Mayhem to give the small mystic animal a pat on the head.

“Heh, yeah. Sorry, we must have been mindlessly taking our time while looking at all the snow up top. I bought some games and other sleep over stuff too, so I am packed!” April replied excitedly, motioning towards the large duffel bag she had slung over her shoulder.

Raphael came moments later, a large grin on his face at seeing their friend/sister. 

“Heya April, Mayhem! Glad you two could make it. I could get that for ya, if you want.” He offered to take her bag and set it somewhere, and April handed the bag over with a smile. She was definitely sure that Raph would be more than strong enough to carry it.

“Thanks, big guy. I’m sure you could just set it in the living room for now. I’ll sort everything else later.” She suggested, and Raph gave her a toothy grin before walking towards said direction. 

April followed Mikey and Mayhem towards the kitchen after putting her hat, scarf, and jacket hanging somewhere near the entrance. Once inside the kitchen, however, she realized something out of the ordinary. 

Donatello and Leonardo were sitting alongside each other at the table, while Splinter quietly sat across from them while sipping some tea. 

What was strange wasn’t the seating arrangement, however, but it was how when she entered, Donnie and Leo simultaneously glanced up briefly before returning to their phones, simply saying hello at the exact same time. 

She always said they were like twins, especially since hearing them say it so often had made her believe it, but it was weird to see things like that happen.

Usually, Donnie was the one glued to his phone, but Leo apparently gained the same habit overnight. She expected it to be a comic he had his nose in instead of his phone. He still had his relaxed charm though, with his legs propped up on the table and slack appearance. She raised a confused eyebrow and waved in their direction, aware that they probably wouldn’t notice her do that anyway. Instead of reprimanding them, Splinter simply finished off his tea and got down from his seat, walking over to her with a small smile. 

“Ah, April, Mayhem, welcome. Feel free to choose anywhere you’d like to sleep. We will try to be very accommodating. And I’ll try not to get crumbs everywhere, heheheh.” He said jokingly, and soon walked out of the kitchen without another word. 

April smiled in return and watched the adult mutant leave the Kitchen area. Well, that didn’t change too much at least. She tried not to think too much into it, but Mikey seemed to completely ignore the strange change to Leonardo’s and Splinter’s behaviors and sat down, eagerly patting a chair so she could sit right next to him. Mayhem had made himself comfortable on the table itself, sitting down and looking at everyone patiently.

As she sat down, Mikey immediately started talking about all the things they could do for the next two weeks with April over.

“This is the first time you’ve stayed over! Oh I wonder what stuff we could do while you're here. Oh, I could show you all of my murals now! I’ve been dying to show you what I had cooked up since you were last here.” He said, pulling out his own phone to show her previews of what she’d be seeing.

“Oh, Michel, I’m sure she would rather see all of my much more superior inventions rather than your paintings.” Donnie chirped in, raising his attention from his phone to look over at Mikey and April with a deadpan look. 

“Nuh-uh! Your inventions are boring. I’m sure she’d rather see some real art.” Mikey replied defiantly, crossing his arms with a small frown forming on his face.

“He’s got a point Don. I don’t know if April would be too keen on listening to you ramble to yourself about a bucket of bolts for two hours.” Leonardo quipped suddenly with a small chuckle, eyes glued to his phone all the same.

“Hmph, scoff. Me and her are on a much higher intellectual plane than you plebeians. Isn’t that right April?” Donnie said in mock offense, looking to April for some backup. 

With a small laugh, she defensively put her hands up, thinking of a reply that would satisfy everyone without a sibling argument happening. 

“Relax, I’m sure I’ll get a chance to look at everything over these next couple of weeks. Aaaannnd I’ll listen to your long lectures about all that fancy sciencey stuff too.” She said, and Donnie smiled in satisfaction. Mikey joined in, and shrugged. 

“Works for me.” Donnie added before sitting back in his seat, stretching his arms up, possibly from sitting for so long. 

“Oh! We gotta show you some new games we ended up finding while renovating. They're kinda old, but classics are never too old for me. Wanna check them out before our game portion of the night starts?” Mikey offered something to do, and April was definitely eager to see what ‘classics’ they had found. 

“Duh, of course! Show the way, Mike.” She replied with a grin, and gestured to Mayhem to come along. He yipped excitedly and jumped into her arms, getting comfortable as she held onto him. As she, Mikey, and Donnie stood up from their seats, Leo stayed where he was. 

Mikey rose a brow ridge, looking Leo’s way with a slightly confused look.

“Hey, Leo, you comin’?” He asked, and Leo responded by waving his hand in their direction, as if giving them the go ahead. Just as he did, his phone started to vibrate in his hand. He was getting a call.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll be there in a sec. You guys can go ahead.” He said, and brought the phone to the side of his head. He looked their way and offered a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. Mikey decided to just take it as it was and exited the kitchen with the other three, focusing more on remembering where he had placed those games.

As they walked away from the kitchen, and once they were a good distance away, April placed a hand on Mikey and Donnie’s arms, motioning them to slow down to a stop so they could talk. Her other arm was still securely wrapped around Mayhem, so he wouldn’t fall.

“Hey, uh… Why is Leo acting like that?” She asked with her eyebrows knitted in worry. 

Donnie raised his own drawn eyebrow, curious as to what she meant.

“Acting like what?” He asked back and she gave a bit of a smirk, playfully poking at his arm.

“Like you, Donnie. Doesn’t it seem weird for him to be glued to his phone like that? He’s usually a lot more excited for game night around this time. Competitive, even. Even Splinter was acting weird. I woulda thought Splinter would have reprimanded him for putting his feet on the table, like the last time I was over.” She pointed out. She ignored the soft narrowed gaze that came from Donnie at the lowkey diss and turned her attention to Mikey, who seemed a little unsure of how to clearly explain the incident that happened.

“Well, we went to do some errands for Dad and Leo got this opportunity to be a cool Hidden City star or something like that from this demon looking guy. When we got home and he told Dad, they got into a bit of a heated argument. It’s been like this for the last week. They refuse to talk or even give eye contact to one another.” Mikey explained it with a slightly worried look on his face, glancing around to make sure it was just the four of them in the little hallway.

“Yeah… Nardo got a bit heated and refused to apologize to Dad. And the other way around.” Donnie added with a soft roll of the eyes. He was worried as well, but he found it quite childish the argument had escalated the way it did. In his opinion, what Leo had said was uncalled for, but Dad sort of pushed his buttons. Donnie was sure he himself would have lashed out the same way Leo had done if he was told the same thing, if he had to be honest.

“So they’ve been avoiding each other for that long? But it’s game night! Christmas is in two days! They can’t be mad at each other forever.” She didn’t like that as well. She could understand that parents could be difficult sometimes, but there were two sides to one coin. They had to come to some sort of understanding of each other. 

“I tried talking to them both, but everytime I even mention that day, they get defensive. Leo refuses to open up about how he actually feels about it, too. I’m worried this will carry on until New Years…” Mikey was frowning now, obviously concerned for Leo and Splinter’s relationship and how it could affect their holidays together.

“Well, this definitely shows why Leo is the less liked out of the five of us...” Donnie mumbled aloud with a slightly joking tone, and was immediately punched in the arm by Mikey. Mikey glared at him as he rubbed his tender arm.

“Owwie! I was just joking!” Donnie said, glaring back at his younger brother and April couldn’t help but sigh. 

She wondered why the conversation had gone so downhill for Leo and Splinter. If she was there, she was sure to have stepped in, but she had never experienced Leonardo upset before. At least around her, he’s usually very chill and carries himself as if he had not a single care in the world. Maybe he was stressed? But why would he hide the fact he was stressed? From his own family, no less? If it was a leader thing, she could understand, but it was just hard to imagine Leonardo being so upset to the point he’d yell at someone. Especially to keep a grudge against his own Father for a whole week.

A million things had ran across her mind all at once while Mikey tried to convince Donnie that his previous statement wasn’t true; Leo wasn’t the least favored son. In the midst of it, however, April came to a conclusion.

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” She stated matter-of-factly. She handed Mayhem over to Donnie, who instinctively took him into his arms without really looking away from his conversation with Mikey.

The two turtles realized what she had said and abruptly stopped to watch her walk off. Before Mikey could stop her, Donnie softly placed a hand on his shoulder and gestured towards the direction they were originally going in. Mayhem seemed to hold a bit of a worried expression on his face as Donnie spoke to Mikey.

“Let’s let her try and deal with it. We should go see what Raph is up to. He’s probably trying to set up for later and is probably going to mess up the projector. Again.” He suggested and begrudgingly, Mikey nodded in agreement. They both glanced back one more time towards the direction of the kitchen before continuing their journey to the living room.

April walked back into the kitchen in time to see Leo with his shell turned towards the entrance, just getting off the phone with a faint smile on his face. However, unaware he was being watched, his smile dropped, showing a stressed and conflicted look take its place. He rose a hand to his face and rubbed down it, letting out a long, but quiet, frustrated groan.

“You okay there?” April suddenly asked, which caused Leo to jump and swiftly turn around. 

“April?! Yeesh, could have said you were coming back in. Nearly gave me a heart attack.” He said with a soft chuckle, placing his phone back in his pouch as casually as possible. 

April raised an eyebrow, walking over to the other and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, a worried look plastered on her face. 

“Sorry, just wanted to check up on you. You just seemed really… distracted is all.” She pointed out and he shrugged, trying to play it cool and shrug off her concern.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just got really into this thing called Reddit. There’s a lot of cool forums and stuff, so I’ve just been checking them out.” He said with his usual cool attitude. 

That lie would have worked if she hadn’t just seen him lower his facade for a second.

“...Riiiight. Mikey told me what happened. I’m pretty sure Reddit wouldn’t have any actual advice for dealing with arguments with your parents. Especially if you're reading it with the side of your face.” April said jokingly, and as if he had been caught red handed, Leo gave a look of nervousness.

He rose his hands to his face and groaned into them, annoyed by the circumstances he currently found himself in.

“Ugh… why did Mikey have to say anything… I told him to drop it!” He finally responded, frowning all the while, but April softly placed her own hand over his own, pulling one of his hands off of his face to look at him properly. She offered a kind smile, which caused him to relax a little.

“He’s just trying to look out for you. Is it okay if I hear your side of what happened?” She asked, and Leo sighed, glancing away as if thinking about if he should or not. However, after looking back at her and seeing the soft patient expression she wore on her face, he gave in. Well, she was practically an older sister to them. She deserved to know.

Rehashing the event seemed to get Leo riled up more than he would have liked to admit, but he kept his composure as he explained exactly what had happened. 

April patiently listened the entire time, taking as much of the information in as she could. She took note, however, of how he tried his best to not talk about how he actually felt about the situation, like Mikey had said he was doing when he tried to talk to Leo himself. Well, at least she knew what happened in greater detail.

After he was done, he sunk into the chair he was sitting in when she first came in with Mikey and Mayhem, shame washing over him as he placed his head face down on the kitchen desk.

“I know what I said was stupid and uncalled for, but I just wish he’d actually give it some thought! I mean, look at this place!” Without raising his head from the table, he raised a hand to gesture around them, cracks and chips in the wall even more evident now that she was closely examining everything.

“That money could help us fix our home, but he refuses to admit that we need that sort of help. He’s afraid I’ll mess up like he did, but I’m not like him! I’m not completely abandoning them, I’m just trying to help! Even Raph sided with him after that spat and refused to listen to me...” A frustrated sigh escaped him before his body completely laxed, all the energy he had in him quickly dissipating. 

“I’m trying to do what’s best for us as a whole. I just… thought taking up that sort of offer would be easier. It’s not like we can really get regular jobs around New York or in the Hidden City. Especially after our little fiasco during that vacation day we had.” He said, recalling the day they took off to hang out in the Hidden City separately, which ended with them all getting arrested except for Mikey and Splinter. He was surprised he hadn’t seen posters of them all down there, but he guessed they didn’t exactly do anything completely terrible.

April sighed softly, giving soft reassuring strokes to his shell. Leo finally turned his face towards her, shame and annoyance very evident expressions. She could tell he was stressed, but she just hoped what she was going to say would ease the situation rather than make it worse.

“Don’t be too hard on Splints. I’m sure he’s just trying to look out for you in his own way. He probably just doesn’t want to lose you the same way his Grandfather lost him to showbiz. Granted, it will give you guys the money you need to get stuff to fix this place up, but you barely know this guy. He could be a con man or something.” April spoke with a soft and seemingly understanding tone that made Leo relax more. He sat up, giving more of his attention to April as she spoke, taking in what she was saying. For some reason, he didn’t feel like he was being judged. At least with the way April was explaining her thoughts to him.

April noticed the increase in attention and smiled, glad he was at least lending her a metaphorical ear.

“Maybe get to know this guy better before choosing to be a star. It could be a big commitment. I’m sure your Dad, and I guess Raph, are worried you won’t have time for them anymore. We all care about you and want you to be happy, and we just don’t want to see you get crushed under the pressure of being famous and being the leader at the same time. I’m sure once they see how committed you are to taking up that mantle, as much as you're comfortable with, they’ll support you one hundred percent! I’m sure apologizing to Splints might make it… 200%.” She finished off her advice spiel with a light hearted tone, and it made Leonardo smile. He guessed he was too concentrated on seeing his own side that he didn’t consider what his Father was truly trying to tell him. His smile dropped however, a downtrodden expression taking its place.

“I don’t know if he’d even want to talk to me right now… I think I really hurt his feelings.” He said, but April shook her head, smiling all the same.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind hearing you out. He cares about you after all. If he can forgive you for that time you dyed him green as a prank, I’m sure he’ll forgive you now.” She tried to reassure him, but then suddenly thought about what Donatello had said while in the hallway. Did Splinter really think he was the least favorite son? Was that how they viewed him? Or how Leo thought they viewed him? Well, that was a question for another time.

Her words seemed to do the trick though, cause after she stated that, he stood up with a newfound energy. 

“Okay. I’ll go talk to him.” He said, and despite the smile on his face, she could tell he was nervous. The sides of his smile seemed to waver just a tad. She chose not to mention it, realizing that some people were better off not explicitly talking about how they feel, at least in the moment. She got up as well, giving him a reassuring grin once again to help give him more of a morale boost.

“And we’ll be right there by your side.” She said, and followed him out towards the living room. Hopefully this would go off without a hitch.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other three brothers had chosen to take refuge in the living room as they set up the projector. Mayhem sat next to them, watching them curiously as they messed with the machine. They had to lay a white enough fabric over the wall that the projector would usually display on, mostly because of the large holes in that wall now. It would make it harder to see what was going on in the games they’d be playing.

Splinter was seated comfortably in his usual lounging chair, watching them quietly with a soft sullen look to his gaze. Mikey had caught sight of it and frowned, but chose to say nothing. He didn’t want to upset their Father right before the game portion of their night started.

Leo walked in, looking confident until he walked up to Splinter. His posture stayed the same, but his soft smile wavered as his nervousness started to show. He glanced back at April, who gave him a reassuring thumbs up. He let out a slightly shaky breath, trying to calm himself before looking at Splinter, who didn’t raise his gaze from the wall ahead. Leo was a good apologizer, and liar, but he always found it a lot harder to apologize to their Dad. Especially after everything he had said to him a week ago.

“Uh… Dad? Can I.. talk to you? Like, out there?” He asked, and Splinter sighed. He finally turned his gaze to Leo, and after what seemed like a long minute of contemplation, Splinter stood up. He nodded, looking up at Leo with an unwavering look that was hard to place. It pulled at the heart strings on Leo’s heart. His own guilt was evident on his face now.

“Of course.” He simply said, and followed Leo into their main area where their bootleg skate ramp stood tall.

April watched them walk out before turning her attention to the other three turtles. All four of them shared a knowing look and quickly followed after the two to eavesdrop. Mayhem teleported onto April’s head just as they all moved simultaneously.

They peeked out of the archway that led to the area Leo and Splinter were in and paid close attention to what was going on; they were hopeful their silent treatment act would be resolved with this apology.

A moment of silence reigned down on the scene as Leo averted his eyes to anything else besides his Father. He never remembered apologizing being so nerve wracking before. He used to stick up for his brothers all the time, and was the easiest to come up with some lie that would get them all out of trouble. If it was something they needed to apologize for, he’d be the one to do it. It was usually easier, but then again, he was younger.

Now that he was older, and in this situation, there was no hiding from his Father. He was the one that messed up and had to fix it.

Leo was the first to start after staying quiet for so long. He let out another sigh, crossing his arms as he struggled to keep his eyes on his Father.

“Dad, I… I-I’m really sorry for what happened last week. It was uncalled for for me to say what I did… I… I was too busy thinking about what I wanted to do instead of the message you were trying to explain to me… so… yeah. I never meant to hurt you on purpose.” Leo started off stuttering, nerves playing a part to his inability to keep his gaze. However, as he continued to talk, he looked Splinter in the eyes, his expression turning more pained and genuine. 

After speaking, another moment of silence followed. Splinter rose a hand to his chin, stroking the beard that had long turned white. Leo was unsure of what to do but kept patient. Whatever happened now, he would accept. Their Father was probably thinking over what to say. Especially after a week of them not talking to each other. The other four (well, five) peepers were anxiously waiting for something to happen. When finally, Splinter turned his focus back onto Leo, also looking quite guilty.

“I must apologize as well, Leonardo. I was concentrating on my own past failures and didn’t give your side a second thought. I just know the road to stardom is a rough one, and requires you to make sacrifices you won’t be happy to make. I don’t want you to struggle under that sort of weight, and make the same mistakes I once had.” Splinter’s voice was soft and understanding, and all the other teens looked surprised. It was rare for him to say Leo’s full name too often. Or any of their names (besides April) to be exact.

“However, I could see your dedication to trying to make sure we are safe and stable. You are not a terrible leader. You are doing very well, surprisingly.” Splinter’s expression seemed less guilty and a smile formed on his face. Leo seemed comforted by the sight of it and smiled a little as well. 

“You have much to learn, but you are a good leader. Intuitive. Clever. If you can handle the responsibility of being a leader and a star at the same time… then I will allow you to become one.” Leo’s smile widened as those last few words left his Dad’s mouth. His grin was wide and a ‘woohoo’ was about to come out until Splinter rose a hand, causing him to pause in place before he could throw a fist into the air. 

“But... that means you will have to come to training. Everyday.” Splinter said with a mischievous smirk, which caused Leo to become downtrodden, comically frowning at such an order.

“What?? But I already go to training everyday!” Leo whined, and Splinter narrowed his eyes, which caused Leo to flinch and avert his gaze.

“Oh really? At first, you came around and didn’t even do anything! And then after that, you put a wooden figurine in the corner of the gym, with a blue bandanna drawn on it, for the past month. You didn’t think I’d realize?” Splinter said, and Leo started to sweat. He was sure that would have worked for much longer than it had. A second of silence passed before the red-eared slider shrugged, an unsure smirk forming on his face. “It could be?” 

A hand quickly rose and fell down on Leo’s head, giving a swift but painful chop to his temple. The sudden attack caused him to wince in pain. Splinter shook his head, but a smile was still present on his face. Leo rubbed at the top of his head, pouting all the while.

“Everyday?” Splinter asked, looking at Leo knowingly. 

With a soft sigh, Leo crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t deny it even if he tried.

“Everyday.” 

Once Leo confirmed he would be going to training everyday, Splinter nodded. He then outstretched his arms to Leo, who was confused for a second before a loud gasp fell from his mouth. The others gaped in shock at the sight they had from the doorway.

Leo quickly bent down and picked up their Dad into a tight hug, a large smile spreading on his face. Hugs were a rarity, so this was a pleasant surprise. Mikey teared up from the doorway, wishing he was the one getting a hug from their Father. 

Such plush hugs... 

The moment seemed to stretch over for minutes. Both of them embracing each other tightly, all past aggression being forgiven. It was touching, and it made April smile. It was such a heart-warming moment.

Just as Leo placed Splinter back down and they shared another pleasant moment to smile at one another, a pinkish purple portal formed towards the archway where the other four teens were peeking past. All four of them stopped looking at Leo and Splinter to look at said portal, and watched a tall, long haired yokai walk out of it.

It was Baron Draxum, and he was holding his own assortment of board games.

Mikey was the first to speak up, sprinting up and hugging their tall second Father. 

“Draxibald! You actually came!” The youngest turtle said excitedly. 

Draxum had gotten so used to the orange one's affection that he simply just ignored the act all together. He had eventually gotten tired of trying to push Mikey off, and that was hard within itself. For someone so small, he had an iron grip.

Leo and Splinter turned their attention towards the entrance to the living room and was curious as to what was going on. They both walked over, and while Splinter was trying his best not to look annoyed at Draxum’s presence, Leo turned towards April, Donnie, and Raph who were posted up nearby. He narrowed his eyes at them, pointing an accusing finger. “Were you guys peeping on us?” He said with an arched brow. They all looked nervous, looking everywhere else besides at Leo. 

“W-whaaaat? We would never, right guys?” Raph said first, looking at April and Donnie who nodded in unison. 

“Never ever! We would never.” Donnie said, keeping the most composure as he tried to suddenly look interested in his wrist pad. 

April wasn’t sure what to say, so she just gave the biggest smile she could muster with a double thumbs up. 

Leo looked at them, dumbfounded. He could tell they were lying immediately, especially with Raph’s ‘got caught in the act’ stink. However, he simply smiled, crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t a total crime if they were listening in. He probably would have joined in too if he was on the opposite end.

Mikey was curious about the games Draxum brought, not sure how to read the strange symbols that were printed on the boxes. 

“I can’t read any of these. What are they?” Mikey asked, looking at Draxum for some sort of confirmation.

Draxum stood up tall, proud of being asked a question that was based around his knowledge of something. “Well, some of these are yokai based games, games you wouldn’t have above on the surface. However, one of them pertains closely to your equivalent of chess.” He explained, pointing at each specific box he was talking about. 

The instant chess was mentioned, Donnie quickly rushed over, pushing Leo and Mikey out of the way and grabbing for the box that was said to be the yokai version of chess. His eyes seemed to sparkle in excitement as he looked at Draxum with a newfound admiration. “Oh please teach me the ways of Yokai chess! I have been dying to know of other versions of chess, especially since I am the running champion of regular and glass chess, in this household.” The last part was whispered, but it was definitely certain that Donnie was excited to learn something new. Much earlier in their youth, he had figured out how to play chess, and soon after, glass chess when regular chess seemed a bit too easy. Though Leonardo was the closest to giving him a run for his money (at least the only one that tried to actively indulge in his interest and try and learn it from him), he always came out victorious. Now knowing there was another version, and possibly even more complex version of chess that he’s never played before, he was definitely all ears for trying to learn it. 

Draxum chuckled, always pleased to see Donnie’s admiration for the sciences. It sort of reminded him of himself when he was younger and just started getting into the scientific side of Yokai-kind. 

“Of course I can teach you. I doubt anyone else here can.” Draxum said, giving a quick glance to Splinter with a mischievous smirk before leading Donnie aside to help him open up the box and set up the game. At the sight of that, Mikey threw an excited fist into the air, grinning widely as he knew what time it was. Splinter’s face twisted into one of annoyance, his whiskers pointing out straight to show his anger. No one seemed to notice though.

“Now that everyone’s here. It’s game on, baby!” He cheered, and Leo, April, Mayhem, and Raph joined with their own sounds of excitement. 

It was time for Family Game/Movie night to begin!

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their game portion of the night had started off with lots of victories from Leo. After every win, he would do his signature move; a dab and then his victory dance that left the others groaning. He was still a natural at games, it was bound to be a crime at this point. However, there were a few losses he ended up taking along the way, to the annoyance of the blue clad turtle.

Draxum and Donnie had been playing Yokai chess for the majority of the time. Donnie was right on his first assumption. It was a much more complex and hard to figure out version of chess than glass chess. However, after a couple more rounds, he seemed to be getting the hang of it. Draxum was even kind enough to let him win a game, giving pointers along the way. Donnie then would go on to beat any other game that pertained to being smart, like regular chess, checkers, Chutes and Ladders, and the like. It was mostly against Leo, since he always had a much more fun time showing off to Leo that he was better than him at certain things.

Along the way, they hooked up their SNES to the projector and started playing some fighting games. Raph had won a couple and was about to go for a third streak, when April decided to try her hand. He was close to winning, but April had ended up victorious at the last second after pulling the flyest set of combos they had ever seen. They cheered at her victory, while Raph groaned in defeat. It was all in good fun, however. Afterwards, they started with the racing games. Mikey was the best at them, and was in first quite often, however, in the last round of racing, after Donnie, Raph, and April were all left to fight over third, fourth, and fifth place, Leo and Mikey were tied for first. With a quick drift and clever maneuvering, Leo won. With a defeated ‘no!’ escaping Mikey, Leo gave a victory laugh, standing up to cheer again. 

While they were doing that, Splinter tried his hand at Yokai chess with Draxum. It was a long and very tedious game, but to the rat’s annoyance, Draxum was victorious. He should have learned to play the game better when he had the chance.

After the last few games were played, everyone was ready to move on to the movie portion of their night. It was meant to be a collective vote, but people were split between two different Lou Jitsu movies. They would have watched “Jupiter Jim and the Zorblongs from Further Space Installment 27”, but it was a tie vote between the two halves of the group. Draxum and Splinter didn’t even want to watch Jupiter Jim, so they all had to accommodate with a Lou Jitsu film. Raph, April, and Mikey were discussing their favorite out of the two choices, but then Donnie and Leo both interjected with a movie they both enjoyed watching, a third alternative choice: “Lou Jitsu’s Adventures in Japan: Lou Jitsu vs Yakuza 9”. It was sure to be a hit with everyone, at least, they thought so. Splinter and Draxum stayed out of voting, since they enjoyed any film from Lou Jitsu’s franchise; Draxum because he still admired Lou Jitsu secretly, and Splinter because, well, he always enjoyed seeing any of his own movies. It was definitely nice to reminisce about the glory days. The third choice was considered, but ultimately, with three against two, they ended up choosing one of the first two movie choices: “Lou Jitsu’s Dragon Fist Chronicle”. With a defeated groan that was shared between the two, Donnie begrudgingly set up the projector to play the movie chosen. Well, it was still a good movie, so the twins couldn’t argue too much. 

After the movie was set up and ready to play, everyone got into the respective spots: Splinter on his lounging chair, Draxum to his left, seated with legs crossed, Raph seated to the right, Mikey seated towards the very front on a small bean chair, Leo and Donnie taking up the left of Draxum, and April seated between Mikey and Raph, sharing a bean bag with Mayhem sitting comfortably in her lap. Soon, Splinter pressed the play button on the projector and the movie finally began to play.

The movie was very long, about 4 hours and 20 minutes long. Sometime towards the last hour of the film, after many times where everyone cheered and gasped at tense fighting scenes along the way, Leo felt his phone vibrate in his pouch. He slunk away from his family, moving gently so not to alert Donnie, and quickly walked away out of the room and towards a separate room nearby that wasn’t usually occupied. He picked up his phone and was met with a familiar deep voice from the other side. 

It was Demitrious. 

Leo gave a soft smile at hearing him and listened to the words being said on the other side. 

“Leo! Glad to hear from you. What are you up to right now?” The demon asked, and Leo glanced back in the direction his family was currently watching the movie in the other room. 

“Oh, just watching a movie with the family. It’s Movie and Game Night.” He informed his friend, who whistled in intrigue on the other end.

“Wow, that sounds really fun! Hey, how about you slip away to see me real quick? I wanna talk to you about something.”

At that, Leo paused, looking at a wall nearby with confusion. The words April said previously sprung into his mind and a worried expression formed on his face. Was this the time he should be suspicious? 

“Uhh. Well, why? I should be here, with my family.” Leo replied back, his smile lowering into a small frown at hearing he’d have to basically miss the last hour of the movie with his family. That part was always the sickest!

“Oh come now, I’d only need to see you for a few minutes. You’ll be back before they even realized you were gone for too long. Just tell them you went to go use the restroom or something.” Demitrious sounded eager to talk to him one on one, and Leo was wary as to why. However, if he’d be back before anyone even knew he left, that would make things a lot easier for him. The sooner he talked to Demitrious and came back, the sooner he’d see the last bit of the movie. 

His smile came back after a sigh left him. Well, what was the harm in it? It'd be exciting if it’s something cool. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll be on my way. Should be there in a minute, just tell me where to go.” Leo finally obliged and he could practically hear the smile in Demitrious’ words. 

“Awesome! Meet me at the place I discussed with you earlier, near the fountain. See you soon~” The voice sounded sweet and held a sing-song like tune before Leo finally hung up on his end. 

The red-eared slider sighed and contemplated the consequences for slipping out so suddenly. He walked back over to the entrance to their living room to see if anything had changed. He relaxed as he realized no one had noticed he had left yet. Well, he had to tell someone to throw off suspicion. He saw Donnie was the closest and whispered a ‘psssst’ his way. Donnie finally heard him after the fifth time and glanced over, annoyed he was being called while trying to watch the film. 

“I gotta use the restroom. I’ll be right back.” Leo whispered to Donnie. 

Donnie rolled his eyes, but nodded all the same. He mouthed a ‘fine’ back at him and with that, Leo quickly disappeared out of the archway. Donnie stared at the entrance to the Living Room a little longer before looking down at his wrist pad. He tapped along it for a second, inputting something quietly. Once he was done, he returned his attention to the movie. 

After being sure that lie would give him enough of an excuse to be gone for awhile, Leo quickly then ran up to his room, hoping to get through his handy dandy portal in one try so as not to waste any time. 

Leo located his two katanas and quickly sheathed one on his back. He took the second one and made a swift swipe downwards, causing a blue portal to form. He gave a cautious look towards the entrance of his room and before he could triple guess himself, he walked through the portal, the blue circular enigma closing up behind him.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon exiting the portal, he was near a large fountain in a vacant area of a large plaza. Stores littered the surrounding area, with very little traffic. For such a place with so much space, Leo was expecting it to be a lot more crowded. Leo rested the blade of his katana on his shoulder as he glanced around curiously. While he was in the kitchen, they had talked about them meeting up at this specific spot, albeit a lot later in the week to make time for the holidays. It was a spot Leo had encountered a number of times on his Hidden City escapades. It was usually bustling, but he supposed around this time, there was less yokai shopping.

Leo wondered where the tall demon yokai was, until he felt a hand gently rest itself on his free shoulder. Instinctively, he twisted his body around with his sword at the ready, taking aim at the person’s neck. However, he was met with a pensive looking Demitrious, who had quickly raised his hands defensively. The tip of his blade was pointed directly at the yokai’s neck, just centimeters away from making contact. Leo quickly retracted his odachi, nervously smiling at Demitrious. 

“Oh, sorry! I don’t do well with people sneaking up on me.” Leo said, raising his free hand to scratch at the back of his head. He probably looked like a complete fool. 

Demitirious, however, didn’t seem bothered by the fact he was about to get his neck slit open. He smiled cautiously, a strange look on his face. “No need to apologize, I should have guessed doing such a thing would spook you. I would have probably reacted the same if I were in your position.” He seemed to justify Leo’s actions, which made the red-eared slider relax. Okay, maybe he didn’t look like a complete fool. But he did nearly kill his future boss, so that was definitely not a good reputation to have. Gladly, it didn’t turn out that way.

To move the conversation along, Demitirous put another comforting hand on Leo’s shoulder, causing the young turtle to place his blade carefully back in it’s holster. Now that the scare was over, he finally tried to relax. Demitirous took notice and smiled, patting his shoulder gently. 

“Why don’t I treat you to a small sneak peek of my humble abode? I have a few fanciful things I think you’ll like.” He offered. Leonardo wasn’t expecting a sudden tour, but the prospect of seeing what these ‘fanciful’ things were, peaked his interest. Leo shrugged, a smirk lifting itself onto his face. 

“Well, I definitely am curious about what might ‘peak my interest’. Maybe I can bring back something for my brothers.” Leo was thinking of the prospect of bringing something with him just in case he was found out. Almost like a free get out of jail card. If he could bring back something his brothers or even his Father would like, maybe they’d be more comfortable with the yokai demon. 

He knew they were still concerned for him. He would be too if any of his other brothers were in the same situation. But he’d at least be supportive. The only supportive ones so far were Mikey and April, but that was probably because they were always supportive. He hoped the others would be the same after he brought back something cool.

Demitirous nodded and snapped his fingers. Abruptly, they were consumed by bright red flames that didn’t seem to burn. Leo was taken aback at the sight, and it completely consumed them from head to toe. However, it quickly dissipated, and they were suddenly near a very large building that almost looked like a fancy apartment complex. Around them stood a field that had multiple paths that led to the said building. In the middle of the paths stood a fountain. Towards the left and right had alternating paths that led around the building. 

Before Leo could inquire about the diverging paths, Demitirous pulled him gently along towards the building itself. He walked up to the large doors and used his free hand to push the doors open. Leo’s eyes widened as he looked at the grandeur lobby area. Statues of the yokai lined the hall that led up to the main area, and many painted pictures of the previous clients hung up on the walls. The turtle’s eyes practically glistened in amazement at the idea of being among one of the famous yokai painted and hung up on the walls. Demitirious chuckled at the sight, letting go of Leo so that the turtle could roam around freely. 

Leo took the opportunity to look at all the paintings, posing comically in front of all of the paintings to imagine how he would look in their place. He continued down the little lobby area until he stopped in front of a painting of Big Mama. She sat proudly on a luxurious chair, adorned with fancy jewelry and a tight dark purple dress. He frowned, crossing his arms as he eyed the painting. He wasn’t very fond of her, especially after everything she’s done. The fact she still had their Father tied around her little splindly finger made him shiver. Just knowing they had a previously romantic relationship as well also irked him, but he didn’t say anything for the sake of his Father. She did help them on a couple of occasions, but only because their Father had been there. Regardless, she’d alter her conditions at the last second just to favor her. If he had to choose a villain they’ve encountered that annoyed him the most, it was her. 

Demitirious walked over, arms placed carefully behind him. He looked up at the painting of Big Mama as well, sighing softly as memories of his encounters with her played in his mind. It had been awhile since he had last seen her. 

“Quite the vixen, hmm?” Demitirious said, and Leo scoffed immediately after hearing the words leave the yokai’s mouth. 

“Ugh, hardly. The only reason I even know about her is because of her ties with my Dad.” Leo stated, a frown plastered on his face as he rolled his eyes and continued on through the lobby. Curiously, Demtirious followed. 

“Your Father? My, he must be very proud to have a son like you.” The compliment from Demitirious made Leo blush a little. He didn’t know why he reacted like that, but he only chalked it up to the rarity of such a compliment. 

“Oh, heh, as he should be! But in all honesty, my brothers are the real breadwinners. Splinter only just recently made me leader, so I’m just starting to contribute.” Leo shrugged nonchalantly. However, he was stopped suddenly and turned around swiftly, being met eye to eye with Demitirious, who’s own eyes sparkled in amazement.

“Splinter, you say? As in Rat Jitsu, aka Lou Jitsu, the famous actor?!” Demitirious exclaimed, completely amazed he was met face to face with one of the sons of a famous actor. Leo was shocked, but realized that after him and his Father overtook the Kraken, Big Mama’s previous Battle Nexus champion, word would spread fast. Especially between the top dogs in the industry. 

Leo smiled wide, shaking his head slowly. “Oh, uh, no. It’s a different rat… man… mutant.” He tried to lie, but it went completely over Demitirious’ head. The demon stepped back, really taking in Leo’s appearance. Leo averted his gaze, sudden embarrassment taking control. Oh boy, he didn’t think being noticed for being famous would be so… unnerving. He thought he’d eat this sort of attention up. But every time they were recognized, things turned sour fast. Usually enemies with an agenda. Leo prepared himself for some sort of big evil reveal, with smoke and a giant dramatic orchestra in the background.

However, there was none of it. 

Simply Demitirious being amazed. 

The demon’s eyes scanned over Leo’s body, causing him to nervously blush and look away. He suddenly felt very naked, like a prey to a predator.

“I knew you looked familiar! I remember watching the Battle Nexus broadcast and saw you two. Wow. You say the darndest things, but you’re practically famous within our inner circle, already.” Demitrious explained, and Leo raised a brow curiously, embarrassment still lingering. He was? He knew he was basically the Battle Nexus champion, but the real champion was his Father. At least, that was the intention he had first gone in with. Knowing he was also up there seemed to make him feel a little more confident in the situation. Maybe there wasn’t any evil thing going on. Yet.

“Really? Big Mama and whoever else is in your inner circle talks about me? I am soooo rubbing it in Donnie’s face.” A mischievous grin spread on Leo’s face. Him and his twin had gotten into a small bit of a squabble because Donnie didn’t think his huge stunt at the Battle Nexus arena had that much of an impact. Wait till he heard about this.

“Of course! She was shocked that you two beat her champion. You’re practically a legend alongside your Father.” Demtirious nodded in agreeance, remembering what they talked about during the meeting they had after the event occurred. The demon had left early that day, but he was sure good things had been said amongst the other bureaucrats. 

Leo imagined the disgust on Big Mama’s face at having to talk about him. He chuckled as he thought about throwing money in her face and suddenly becoming much more famous than she was. Maybe they’d even replace her on the wall in the lobby. At the thought, he puffed up his plastron, glad he decided to come along. 

Demitirious saw the growing confidence in the turtle and chuckled, motioning around them.

“The fact you're practically famous already will add more credibility to your name once you accept my offer. You will become a very famous mutant. Maybe even one of us.” Demitirious tried to warm up Leonardo to his offer of accepting his help in becoming famous. Leo was still very up for it, but he remembered what April had said that made him hesitant. He didn’t want to refuse, but he had to be practical. 

“That’s true… But what’s in it for you? It might look like a pleasing offer, but there has to be ties I’m not seeing here.” Leo asked blantantly, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the demon. However, he was met with light laughter.

“Absolutely nothing! Just another venture for me and another client to add to my wall. There’s nothing important in it for me.” That wasn’t the answer Leo was expecting. He still wanted to be reasonable, but he believed the words he was hearing. There didn’t seem to be any alternative reason besides just pure interest. He wanted to accept. He would accept.

“Well, then fine. I guess that’s good...” Leo mumbled, thoughtfully looking towards the ground with a finger on his chin. 

“Ah, so it’s a deal, then?” Demitrious asked, walking over to Leo and staring into his eyes. He offered a hand to the turtle mutant, eyes glistening at the prospect of a deal being sealed. 

Leo took a moment to stare into Demitrious’ eyes. A familiar sensation washed over him, like when they first met, and he heard the sound of whispering coming through his own head. This time, his vision started to wash over with an inexplicable filter. His eyes felt like they were covered by an array of colors. He didn’t feel like he was in danger, though. He was oddly at ease. Leo’s eyes widened slightly as he was lost in the strange experience. He didn’t exactly know how to explain what was happening. 

When he came to, his hand was already in Demitrious’, and they were shaking hands. Baffled by what he had just gone through, Leo quickly pulled his hand away, looking it over and then at Demitrious suspiciously. 

“W-what in the world was that??” Leo asked, his thought process suddenly fried. He couldn’t think straight, like a huge gap in his memory had just transpired, despite everything just happening seconds ago. However, the only panic he really felt was just from the absurdity in what had just happened. In the moment, he felt strangely at peace. So comfortable. Just by looking into the yokai’s eyes. 

It was weird.

Demitrious tilted his head, his smiling expression drooping into one of confusion. The turtle watched in suspicion as the demon suddenly seemed worried. 

“What do you mean? Are you feeling okay..?” He asked, walking over to Leo with a hand outstretched to his forehead. Leo instinctively tried to move back, but his body stayed rooted in the spot. He allowed Demitrious to touch his forehead. It was like his fight or flight sensors were off. He didn’t feel like he was in danger, so why did he feel like he had to be?

Demitrious frowned, pulling back and raising his hand to his chin, as if wondering something. 

“Hmm… maybe you’re just not feeling well. Here, take this.” He said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a stack of cash. He handed it to Leo, who took it out of shock, a surprised look on his face at being handed so much money.

“What is this supposed to be for…?” 

“Get whatever you need to help yourself feel better. With your fancy little portal thing, it should be no worries, right?” 

Leo stared dumbfounded at the yokai before him. Not only did he experience some weird trance, worse than what he dealt with before, he was just handed close to $2,000 worth of human money. Did he just have this lying around in his pockets? Was he already expecting him to agree when he got there and this was some sort of stipend? Or was the guy just flexing?

Maybe Leo, himself, was just feeling a bit ill. Maybe.

Leo kept a cautious look at Demitrious, who simply smiled his way, showing a worried expression on his face; eyebrows knitted together tightly. 

“Yeah… maybe you’re right. I am feeling a bit… tired. Thanks, I guess...” Leo said, just wanting to get out of there. He felt like he was losing it. 

“Of course. Let me know when you get to your home safely, yeah?” The red-skinned yokai seemed genuinely concerned for him. Leo nodded slowly at his words. Without saying another word, he shoved the money in his pouch at his hip, unsheathed one of his odachis, and slashed a portal open for him to go through. He didn’t look back as Demitrious waved him goodbye, a smile still prominent on his face as the portal closed between them.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leo returned to his room and walked out of his portal with a weird chill going through him. As he watched his portal close, he saw it glitch for a second before it vanished into nothing. He barely noticed it, too deep in his thoughts to figure out what it was, but what shocked him more was the voice that spoke up behind him.

“You’re finally back, I see.” 

Leo twisted around quickly, expecting to see Demitrous sitting on his bed, but it was simply Donnie, who was lounging around on his bed with his phone plastered to his face. Donnie looked up at Leo after a few seconds of hearing nothing in return, but when he saw the frazzled expression on his face, Donnie’s expression softened, almost looking worried as he stood up and walked over to his twin.

“Are… you okay?” He asked, and Leo stared at him, as if he was still in shock. However, the blue-clad turtle shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. He offered up a smile, but it was faulted, nearly breaking at the corners.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just uh… came back from doing… something. Whyareyouinmyroom?” Leo spoke fast as he asked his brother his reasons for being in his room. Donnie simply shrugged, returning to sitting on his bed nonchalantly.

“Went to use the bathroom and saw you weren’t there. I also saw you weren’t here in your bedroom, so I decided to wait and see. Went to go meet up with your new boyfriend, hm?” Donnie asked, catching on pretty well to what Leo had been up to. However, that didn’t make Leo want to deny it any less.

“He is NOT my boyfriend. He’s an acquaintance.” 

“An acquaintance you snuck off to go see? Scoff. Highly unlikely.”

“Ugh, what does it matter to you Donnie. How did you even know I went to go see him, anyway?” He asked, his patience suddenly wearing thin. His head was still not completely there. Especially with everything that had just happened before he returned home.

Donnie quietly stared at Leo, before pulling up his arm to tap away at the screen implemented on his wrist brace. It soon played a recorded message of Leo talking to Demitrious from earlier when they were all watching the movie. Hearing it made Leo more annoyed. Oh, so Donnie just records everything now, huh?

“Why do you have that recorded? That conversation was none of your business.” Leo’s voice was growing harsher, but Donnie seemed unfazed. He knew Leo was simply upset from being caught in headlights.

“For security reasons, obviously. It’s also most definitely my business if my own brother is involved.” 

“Well, I never asked to be watched over by you, Donatello. So just get out of my room, you big headed weirdo!” Leo shouted that last bit, and Donnie flinched slightly at the volume. However, he stayed put. Leo stiffened at realizing what he said and sighed, dropping his sword to the floor and bringing his hands up to rest them over his face. He groaned lightly, realizing what was happening.

“Oh man… I-I’m sorry Don. I don’t mean that…'' Leo said, and Donnie nodded softly, hiding the fact what was said did sort of hurt his feelings. Not all that much though.

“I know, Leo… it’s fine.” He said, and watched as Leo sat down next to him, face still buried deep in the palm of his three-fingered hands.

“I’m just… not feeling well. My mind just feels so foggy…” He explained, and Donnie’s worried expression returned, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. 

“What happened? I would have expected you to come back looking a lot more… confident. Did you take the offer?” He asked, and frowned when Leo solemnly nodded.

“I-I had to. But it felt like it wasn’t really me who.. took it? Like… I was whispered what to do… Like… I-...” He tried to explain, pulling his hands away from his face to stare deep into them. He didn’t know what to really make of what had happened. It feels all surreal, like it didn’t actually happen in the moment it did occur. He just didn’t know what else to make of it. Demitrious was hiding something, but Leo didn’t know what it was. Or why the yokai was hiding it. Whatever ability he had used on him. Leo knew it had to be Demitrious. But why cause him to do that?

Was it even an ability? 

Donnie took the abrupt silence as a bad omen and simply rubbed soothingly on Leo’s shoulder. The soft gesture made the turtle look over to the purple one, who looked awkward. They both knew Donnie wasn’t all too accustomed with helping out emotionally.

“Well… I’m sure whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.” He said, but as he said that, Leo remembered the ‘reward’ he got for his time. 

“Actually… he also gave me this…” He said, pulling out the cash he had from his pouch. Donnie’s eyes widened, looking at the wad of cash in Leo’s hands.

“That’s so much money! Why would he give you that much so soon…?” Donnie looked suspicious, and Leo shrugged, looking down at it with the same unsure expression. 

“I don’t know… but he said I could use it to help me feel better. I mean… this is what I wanted, really. Money to help us out.” Leo said, sort of dropping his suspicious expression for one of resignation. In the end, he remembered the conviction he spoke to himself as he accepted that first call from Demitrious. He was doing this for his family. Despite what had happened, accepting the offer was what he ultimately wanted. Maybe what had happened was simply him getting lost in the eyes of the yokai, like what had happened the first time. He was probably thinking too much into it.

Donatello sighed, unsure of what to say next. Leo looked different than he was used to, and if this was truly something he wanted, he couldn’t exactly deny his brother the extra responsibility he desperately wanted. He wanted to help them out the best way, and probably only way, he knew how. 

Leo quickly turned to him, almost looking nervous about something. He spoke quickly, without thinking about what he was truly wanting.

“Please don’t tell the others about what happened. I don’t want them freaking out over nothing. I-I need to get this to work. I already took the deal, I want to help everyone the best I can. Please Don, I-” Before he could finish, Donnie raised a hand up to grasp Leo on both of his shoulders now, trying his best to ground his twin from his ramblings. 

“Okay, okay. I’ll keep quiet. But you have to promise me you’ll be more careful next time… and to make sure that you keep me informed of anything fishy that ends up going on. As well as not holding it against me for recording stuff. Got it?” Donnie was not sure how else to help Leo, but if keeping quiet was what he needed to do for his twin about what happened, then he’d do it. He just hoped it didn’t end up blowing up back in Leo’s face. That was the last thing he wanted, or needed.

Leo vigorously nodded in return. 

“I promise.” 

“Good.” Donnie was glad to hear that from Leo. However, he was taken aback by the hug Leo gave him. He grew stiff, not used to hugs, but he softened up and sighed, returning the hug awkwardly. Leo owed him.

They hugged for a moment longer than expected. Leo was still trying to keep his head from swimming and Donnie was making sure Leo was actually okay. However, Leo finally pulled away, seemingly back to his usual self as he put the money away in a nearby dresser. He’d save that for later.

“Well, I guess we could return to the movie now.” Leo said, and was ready to get up, but was stopped by Donnie placing a hand on his shoulder again and shaking his head. 

“Actually, I’d rather not. Everyone fell asleep not too long after you left. There’s no use.” Donnie informed him, and Leo frowned, sitting back down on the bed. He was disappointed he had missed most of the film, but he didn’t exactly want to watch it anyway. 

“Eh, fine…” Leo said, feigning remorse, but perked up as Donnie pulled out his tablet from a compartment in his battle shell. Donnie gave a reassuring smirk as he wiggled the tablet knowingly. 

“Buuuuut, we could watch the movie we actually wanted to see. You up for it?” Donnie asked, and Leo matched his smirk, possibly smiling even wider.

“Oh, heck yeah! Our movie choice was waaaaaay better anyway.” Leo said, and they both high-fived the other before getting ready for their own little makeshift movie night.

The both went to the bathroom to wash up for the night, and went to their separate rooms to change into their pajamas. They met up back in Leo’s room, the best room in the Lair, and huddled up in a makeshift pillow fort made out of an assortment of pillows from both of their rooms. With their blankets drawn and both of them nestled comfortably into the pillows on Leo’s bed, Donnie started up the movie they had proposed to see earlier.

Somewhere towards the end of the movie, they both ended up dozing off, and ultimately falling asleep. The movie ended and the tablet automatically turned off after being idle for longer than 5 minutes or so. They were fast asleep, and unaware of what the next few days would bring them.

For now, they were only met with blissful dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos from the previous Chapter. Sorry for such a long chapter, I didn’t expect it to get this bad ;;
> 
> Hopefully it was a nice read all the same. Critique is always welcomed!
> 
> Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Chapter! :D


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